Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is on an official visit to Germany, where he is discussing the prospects of bilateral relations and the ways to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict at meetings with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other officials.
During a joint press conference with Steinmeier, Elmar Mammadyarov said:
I am very pleased to be back in Berlin, and thanks for the nice weather that you have prepared for us. I think the agenda of the talks between Azerbaijan and Germany is very broad.
Germany is represented in the talks by Mr. Steinmeier, who currently serves as the OSCE chairman, the head of the OSCE office in Germany, and as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I believe that Germany and Azerbaijan can be proud of the level of our bilateral relations in the political and economic spheres. I believe that we should be proud of the fact that relations between Germany and Azerbaijan at the bilateral level are very well developed in both the political and economic spheres.
More than 80% of the German turnover in the South Caucasus is accounted for by Azerbaijan. We have interesting joint projects, including the Southern Gas Corridor, which is so important for the European Union in terms of alternative sources of gas supplies from the Caspian region to the European markets through the TAP and TANAP. We believe that the role of Germany in the EU is very important, as well as its support for this very important international project for the development of the region.
With regard to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the status quo in the conflict zone is not only unacceptable, but also damaging, and this was shown by the escalation of tensions at the beginning of April. We all know, but I repeat once again for the journalists, that all the international organizations, including the UN Security Council, have a clear position on how to resolve this conflict. The main requirement (not just a call, but a requirement) is an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani lands on the basis of full respect for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan.
Today Germany is the chairman of the OSCE, we expect that the OSCE in the framework of the Minsk Group and with the participation of Germany will double or even triple their efforts to ensure that we were able to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiations, and that the military factor can be weakened, and the soldiers return to their barracks. This will open up a very good opportunity for the development of the entire region for the sake of the national interests and well-being of the people who live there.
Speaking at the German Society for Foreign Policy, Elmar Mammadyarov continued the topic of the Karabakh settlement.
Speaking about the violation of the ceasefire in the Karabakh conflict’s zone, the head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that the ceasefire is not a panacea, not a long term solution: "The war started in early April, when Armenia endangered the ceasefire by the attacks, proving that the ceasefire by itself was very fragile, if it was present there. We comply with the ceasefire, but holding on to it, avoiding a political settlement of the conflict, means the preservation of the military component of the conflict. But we have to get rid of the military component. We need to bring our troops back to the barracks. Only in this way can we hope to resolve the conflict."
With regard to the mechanisms for investigation of the violations of the ceasefire, according to Mammadyarov, it is necessary to give a legal basis to them, ‘’If we sign a peace treaty, if we sign an agreement on the timing of a withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the occupied territories, then we can work out a mechanism of investigation. It is impossible to work out such a mechanism while maintaining the status quo, it is necessary to look more broadly at the issue. The military component should be minimized. There is no alternative. Otherwise, all this will be repeated ad infinitum. But why do we need to kill young people, men? What is the purpose?"
Answering the question of an American student about the fate of the refugees who were forced to leave their homes because of the conflict, the minister of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan said: "This is the most unpleasant part of the conflict. The people living in these areas suffer, the civilians expelled from these territories fled to Azerbaijan. From the very beginning of the conflict we wonder, why can't we build a normal relationship between the Armenian and Azerbaijani populations of Nagorno-Karabakh? We lived side by side for centuries, lived as neighbors before the start of the conflict. Why do these people not talk to each other without the participation of politicians, journalists and authorities? A day will come when doctors, nurses, teachers and engineers will live again in Karabakh together. But now the refugees suffer. There is no division according to nationality — everyone suffers. One of the principles of the conflict’s resolution should be the return of people to their homes.
Regarding the negotiations on the settlement, lasting for two decades, Mammadyarov said: "The biggest challenges that you face in the negotiating process start when you go into the details. We are not Nostradamus, we cannot see the future. We do not know what will happen in the future, but we have to think that, in principle, we need to do it right in order to build peace in the region, to bring back peace to the people. I think that to go into the fine details is a path to nowhere. Therefore we are trying to avoid all the controversial, critical issues at the negotiations. Maybe someone wants these talks to continue for 25 years, but this is not exactly what Azerbaijan wants. We want progress in the negotiations. The status quo is not only unacceptable, but also damaging. It is harmful for the region, for the country, for each person. We need to get some kind of development in the peace negotiations. The negotiations involve such countries as the US, Russia and France. Do you know at least one conflict that was resolved without the involvement of at least one of these countries? The United States and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council."
The minister said the establishment of direct contacts between people is the first step to building confidence: "If we can bring the representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani people to the negotiating table in the same room, of course, initially it will be difficult to talk, tomorrow it will also be difficult, and in a month they will find a common language. This is building confidence. We need direct contacts between people. In the end, whether someone likes it or not, the war will be over. The whole history of the world shows that people begin to live peacefully with each other sooner or later, find a common language, in which they discuss and build their future together. Confidence is not an apple. You cannot go to a store, buy and bite it. it is a matter of generations. The construction of walls is in the previous century. We're in Berlin now. And Berlin is a vivid example of the fact that such walls do not work. We need to look at things more widely. I agree that building trust is the hardest part, but we need to work over it. We need to think about how to negotiate with our neighbors. We cannot take Karabakh and escape with it to the moon, to California, to Marseilles. That is ridiculous. We have to think about what the person, who sits nearby, thinks about. This is the only way to continue to move forward. "
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan expressed bewilderment in connection with a publication, in which the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is presented as a conflict between Christians and Muslims: "How deep did the journalist who wrote about it study the issue? If this was the gist, how would it be possible to explain the fact that Christian Armenia has such a great relationship with Iran, which sometimes has difficult relations with Azerbaijan, although the majority of the Azerbaijani population are Shiites, like the population of Iran. The last thing we need to do in relation to this conflict is to identify a religious component. It's like letting a genie out of the bottle. It would be good neither for us, nor for Armenia or the neighboring states."
Meanwhile, referring to the relations between Baku and Tehran, Mammadyarov said: "The relationship with Iran is at a very decent level. Our president visited Iran about a month ago, we are developing a very interesting project, which, incidentally, can be interesting for Germany, a railway connection between Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia. The project is called the North-South Corridor. The project will deliver goods from India, Pakistan and Iran itself, even from the ports of the Persian Gulf, through the territory of Azerbaijan to Russia and Georgia, according to the destination of the goods, and then to Europe."
Answering a question about Baku's position on the Syrian settlement, Elmar Mammadyarov said. "Azerbaijan has a very clear and honest position on the Syrian conflict. First, we hope that the conflict will be resolved peacefully. Secondly, it should be resolved on the basis of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic. In this regard it is worth mentioning the responsibility of Turkey. I believe that the Kurdish population is an integral part of Syria."
The minister said: "There is information that some Armenians, living in Syria, emigrated as refugees to Armenia, and then the Armenian government tried to place them in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which is absolutely contrary to the Geneva Conventions of 1999 and additional protocols. It is absolutely irresponsible to use poor people, refugees who fled from the conflict in Syria, to resettle them in the occupied territories. It would be good to settle them on the territory of Armenia itself and not on the territory of another country."
Speaking about the relations between Baku and Ankara, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan said: "Turkey is considered as a Turkic nation, as a strategic partner by us. It is one of the largest trading partners of Azerbaijan – the contacts between our countries are continuous and intense. Moreover, Turkey is a NATO member. This country has the second-largest army among the NATO countries. This fact is very important for Azerbaijan.The relationship with Turkey is one of the priorities of the foreign policy of our country. We believe that with the help of regional ties, cooperation and development in the region, we can make this region more stable. This is a matter of time. It is necessary to look to the future rather than to dwell on the past. Probably, this is the best idea I can share with my colleagues, to think about the future, to think about the national interest of the country, to think about what you can do for it and for your people."
